Mesothelioma Diagnosis

Mesothelioma is a serious cancer that advances quickly and aggressively. Unfortunately, diagnosis of this disease does not typically occur until later stages of development have been reached. This happens because mesothelioma has a very long latency period. In a typical case, between 20 to 50 years elapse between asbestos exposure and the onset of the first symptoms of mesothelioma.

The second reason that mesothelioma is so difficult to diagnose is that the early symptoms and warning signs of the disease are very non-specific and often resemble symptoms of other conditions that are much less serious. For example, the early symptoms of pleural mesothelioma may be mistaken for influenza or pneumonia, and this can result in misdiagnosis.